[Ailist] Science News / Body In Mind

[Stephanie West Allen]

Excerpt:

Ancient philosophy is all Greek to Leo. That’s because he’s a social  
robot, not an academic type. Leo contains a built-in emotional  
empathy system that enables him to figure out the goals and  
intentions of people he meets.

Berlin and his MIT colleagues, led by computer scientist Cynthia  
Breazeal, were inspired by a notion—imported from embodied cognition— 
that imitation is the sincerest form of empathy. People understand  
those they interact with by imitating their behavior, either overtly  
or via imagination, in order to generate personal feelings and  
memories that inform empathic judgments.

Leo’s architecture reflects that idea. The robot contains a mechanism  
that orchestrates the appraisal and imitation of observed facial  
expressions. In laboratory interactions with people, Leo learns to  
associate particular facial expressions with his corresponding  
reactions. Leo’s reactions are guided by sensors that tag incoming  
information as positive or negative, strongly or weakly arousing, and  
new or familiar.

The robot also contains hardwired sensors that similarly appraise  
acoustic features of human speech, such as pitch. This vocal feedback  
reinforces links that Leo makes between others’ facial expressions  
and his own feelings.

Another built-in system directs Leo’s attention to nearby objects and  
to signs of movement, as well as to a person’s gaze and other body  
language. The same system allows Leo to review his own recent actions  
and reactions, and even what his goals were when he performed those  
actions.

Rest here:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/37406/title/Body_In_Mind

Stephanie


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Stephanie West Allen, JD
http://www.brainsonpurpose.com
http://www.idealawg.net
Denver, CO USA